When the day finally reached its ending, Simon and Marissa decided to set up some form of camp, comprising of two sleeping bags and nothing more. As they slept exposed to nature, their start to the new day came with some annoyance. It began much earlier than a person might have planned, thanks to their wakeup call coming in the form of the sun rising. It didn't matter if they tried to hide their faces within their sleeping bags. The light was strong enough to pierce right through the material. Like it or not, they had to get up.

After putting their sleeping bags away, followed by completing common morning rituals such as breakfast, of which they split some of the food Simon's parents had packed for him, Marissa's food supply being pretty low from consumption over her time traveling longer, the duo continued moving. It wasn't long before they reached their goal, about an hour or so of walking. As Marissa mentioned finding her way out of Meteor Falls by a stream, the two spotted it, which came with no issue as they were assisted by the light sound for rushing water, and the smell of freshness that came with it.

They approached a large opening that was taken up mostly by the stream, but had enough space on the side for the duo to enter with ease. Although they were now inside Meteor Falls, they had no reason to worry about any issue involving sight to occur. As Simon looked up, he noticed there were holes of various sizes, allowing sunlight to come in and illuminate the area. So long as they found their way before nightfall, things would be just fine.

"So we just have to follow the stream?" Simon asked.

Marissa nodded. "Yep… well, for the most part. There's a point where the stream goes upwards and we can't go that way. By that point, the place will be much bigger than where we are now. When we get to that point, I'll just show you where I came from." She then stopped walking. "Oh, I almost forgot." Marissa took off her bag and when through its contents, taking out two little spray bottles, handing one over to Simon.

"Repels? Why do we need them?" Simon asked, taking the bottle.

"It's daytime, so they're asleep right now," Marissa replied before pointing towards the ceiling, at a dark spot between two holes, where the light couldn't reach. Simon corrected his glasses, trying to get the best vision possible. It took a few seconds, but eventually, he saw what Marissa was pointed at, and causing him to shudder slightly at the sudden realization.

In the dark spot on the ceiling was a couple of Pokémon, sleeping, upside-down. There were two kinds, but had some similarities in physical appearance. Both were blue, with their bodies wrapped around by their wings. Some were larger than others. Those larger had small, triangular ears, and noticeable eyes that were closed. The smaller ones didn't seem to have any eyes but had ear of greater size than those of the larger Pokémon.

"Zubat… and Golbat." Simon spoke, his voice suddenly a whisper of what it was before.

Marissa waved a hand at him as assurance. "Don't worry, you don't have to keep your voice down yet. As long as we're near the stream, the sound of rushing water will get in the way of their hearing. Just spray yourself with the repel. If anything, it'll keep them away from us for a short time."

Simon didn't take a second to think it over, spraying himself with the repel, and making sure he didn't miss a spot on his body.

The sight of it caused Marissa to giggle as she sprayed herself with the other Repel. "Are you okay?" She asked him.

"Can't be too careful," Simon replied as he shook the bottle, making sure it was completely empty.

"You'll be fine, come on," Marissa said, still giggling.

As they made their way through Meteor Falls, Simon kept the distance between him and Marissa as small as possible. He walked with unease and often having his focus on the ceiling. He would look at every dark spot he could, seeing if there were any Zubat or Golbat hanging there. When he saw them, Simon shuttered, letting out a quick, squeak-like sound escape from his lips.

At first, the sound Simon was making didn't bother Marissa. Whenever he let one out, she would turn to look at him, see what was going on, and then looked forward, making sure they were still following the stream. However, after about twenty minutes of this happening, and Simon being so close to her that she could feel him breathing, enough was enough.

The sound escaped Simon's lips again, and Marissa stopped in her tracks, turning to him. "Alright," she began. "What's with you?"

Simon looked at Marissa, then at the ceiling for any signs of the Zubat and Golbat. He looked at Marissa once more. He looked at the ceiling for a second time. He looked at Marissa, again. He looked at the ceiling… again. Finally, his face turned red with embarrassment. "I didn't know there would be Zubat and Golbat in here," Simon spoke.

Marissa crossed her arms. "I told you, we'll be fine. Look, they're nocturnal Pokémon. As long as the sun is out, the light will get in through any of the holes. They won't wake up until the light is gone and it's safe for them. It's a fact everyone learns at school. Besides, I'm sure the repel is still in effect. You have nothing to freak out about… why are you so freaked out about them anyway?"

Simon's face grew a brighter shade of red. "I… um… I… um."

"Come on, spill it," Marissa spoke, tapping her foot.

To get through the embarrassment, Simon looked down at the ground. "I… when I was little… there was this thing I wanted to see. It was a movie… but my parents wouldn't let me because I was too young and it was past my bedtime. So I quietly hid somewhere in the living room where they couldn't see me, but I would still see the television screen… the movie was a scary one. It had Zubat and Golbat flying around. They would bite people and turn them into more Zubat and Golbat. I've always been afraid of them since."

Marissa could feel a laugh approaching within her, but did her best to keep her cool. "Oh, is that it? Simon, it was just a movie." She paused for a moment, making sure she had the laugh restrained before continuing. "And as you said, you were little. Besides, I think I know which movie you're talking about. Trust me, the visuals do not hold up with time."

"Still," Simon spoke, taking a moment to look at the ceiling, his face still red from embarrassment. "I don't really like being around them."

With the laughter in her finally passing, Marissa gave an assuring touch on Simon's shoulder. "I get it. We're all afraid of something. As for me, well, I'm afraid of the ocean."

"Really?" Simon asked, the red from his face finally starting to go away.

Marissa nodded. "I don't know what's in the bottom, and that freaks me out. I also hate being surrounded by it. I'm fine looking at it on land and putting my feet in the water, but if I'm waist up then I'm done. It's okay to be afraid, Simon, but do you know what's not?"

Simon shook his head.

Marissa walked behind him, placed her hands on his band, and began moving him forward, forcing Simon to move in that direction. "Standing around." She said, answering her own question.

As they continued to moved farther into Meteor Falls, and Simon letting Marrissa push him forward, he kept in check with the Zubat and Golbat. Every forced step he took meant looking at the ceiling at least three or four times. The only occasion where he didn't do this was when he and Marissa would pass under one of the holes that allowed light in.

Eventually, the two reached a point where the path they were on led to two different tunnels. Fortunately for them, they didn't have to make a decision and possibility have it be the wrong one. The stream continued through one of them, making it easy for the two to know which to go. Although, this did cause some panic for Simon, as he noticed there were no holes in the ceiling in the tunnel, meaning no light could get through. Marissa, however, continued to push him forward, often telling him he was going to be fine. As Marissa was the one guiding him, Simon kept his eyes completely shut.

The tunnel they went through led them to a larger area. It was here that Marissa finally stopped pushing Simon and took her hands off him.

"Okay, you're good here," Marissa said.

Simon slowly opened his eyes and quickly realized what Marissa meant. The area they were in was lit up much brighter than the other parts of Meteor Falls. Simon looked up, realizing this was because most of the ceiling was gone. It was opened to nature, allowing plenty of the sun's light to beam down, and, for Simon, safety in knowing there were no Zubat and Golbat around.

"This is where it ends," Marissa spoke, pointing a finger to her right.

As she mentioned before, the stream was going upward, and there was barely any room for them to go around it, making it difficult to go that direction. However, Simon, taking a moment to look around, noticed there were a few other tunnels ahead of them.

"Do you remember which one you went through?" Simon asked.

"Yea, I know which one," Marissa answered. "But remember, since we're not following the stream anymore, we're going to have to be quieter when going through."

"Yea… I know." Simon said, letting out a sigh, knowing what this meant about those Pokémon he took issue with.

Suddenly, something passed by the sun, causing a shadow to quickly move over Simon and Marissa. Gaining their attention and looking up, they saw it wasn't one thing, but multiple. About a dozen or so, all Pokémon, and all of them the same kind.

Their bodies were spherical, mostly orange, and had eight spikey spines sticking out of them. They were all moving around, differently from one another. One hovered in circles, another moved side to side, one was even constantly spinning in themselves.

Simon corrected his glasses and looked at them with awe. "Are those Solrock? I've never seen so many at once… actually, I've never seen one in general."

"I remember seeing some of them when I first got here, but not this many." Said Marissa.

"What are they doing?" Simon asked.

"My mom told me they like being around the sun." Marissa began. "But I can't remember why… whatever the reason, I think they're happy."

The two of them stood there watching the Solrock for a few minutes. The Pokémon moved around with, what seemed to be, enthusiasm. They clearly did have an attraction to the sun as they seemed to make sure they were in the direction of it.

It all seemed fine at first, until one of the Solrock, the one who was spinning themselves around, was starting to hover a bit oddly. Before they knew it, the Solrock suddenly began to fall. They were clearly a heavy Pokémon, as it didn't take long for them to crash into the ground, and causing both Simon and Marissa to feel the vibration underneath them from the impact. Concerned, the two quickly rushed over to the Pokémon.

"Solrock, are you okay?" Simon asked.

It took a moment, but the Solrock did eventually being to hover back up, but still doing so oddly. Taking a closer look at the Pokémon, Simon and Marissa noticed nothing seemed to be wrong with them. Apparently, the Solrock was spinning a little too much, to the point where they became dizzy, and caused them to temporarily lose control of themselves.

Simon let out a sigh of relief. "Good to see nothing is wrong with you."

Simon began to make his way closer to it, but when doing so, the Solrock suddenly backed away, moving a little closer to where Marissa stood and leaving Simon with some confusion.

"The repel," Marissa began. "I think it's still in effect on you."

Simon understood and gave the Solrock a small smile.

With the Solrock closer to her, Marissa was able to get a better look at them. It was then that she noticed a small crack on the hard exterior that was their body, most likely the result from falling.

"Oh, Solrock, don't move," Marissa spoke, going through her bag. She took out a small box of bandages, using one and placing it over the crack. "I don't think a potion would help something like this. At least this way it can't be exposed by something."

The Solrock released a sound of, what could only be described as, something similar to a distorted vibration. It was their way of showing gratitude, to both of them.

As Marissa put the box of bandages back in her back, she turned her focus to the tunnels. "We have to go through the farthest one from here. When we get to the end, we'll end up in one more room with other tunnels. From there, we just got to go through the right one and we'll be out of here."

Simon nodded, understanding. The two then made their way towards the farthest tunnel, and as they did, they said their goodbyes to the Solrock, who watched them walk off.

When making their way through the tunnel, and the sound of rushing water no longer muffling any sound coming from them, it became apparent as to why they had to try to be more careful. With every step they took, even the smallest ones they could manage, they set off some sort of echo. A loud enough one could have been enough to attract a wild Pokémon.

Because of their interaction with the Solrock, Simon's mind didn't fully focus on his fear of the Zubat and Golbat. That's not to say he wasn't still cautious about them, but his need to check the ceiling wasn't as constant, even with them walking through a dimly lit tunnel.

After some time walking, they reached the end of the tunnel and entered the room Marissa spoke of. Here, it was much dimmer then the tunnel they were just in, but it was still possible to tell there were other tunnels ahead. There were a lot of them, more here than any of the other rooms.

"Can you see that large boulder over there?" Marissa spoke in a low whisper. "The tunnel closest to it is our way out."

With how dark the area was, Simon was having some difficulty as to which tunnel Marissa was speaking about. "Which one?" He whispered to her.

"That one over there," Marissa replied, pointing to the direction.

Because of his bad eyesight, even with his glasses on, Simon squinted a bit, trying to get a better look. However, it wasn't doing much help. Annoyed, he looked up at the ceiling, wondering why this area was darker to the rest.

That was the wrong thing to do.

There was only one small hole, allowing the light from outside to struggle in illumination, but it was enough for Simon to see something. Around it, he could make out some silhouettes, Golbat, but it didn't stop there.

Next to those silhouettes, were others, and those had others next to them. With so much room on the ceiling of the area, Simon was looking at the largest amount of Zubat and Golbat they've come across so far. It was at this point he began to panic, and subconsciously, let out the same squeak-like sound he made earlier.

Now panicking herself, Marissa quickly covered Simon's mouth with her hand, but it was too late. The sound echoed through the room, and with all the tunnels around them, it bounced constantly. Their hearts began pounding rapidly as the saw several Zubat and Golbat above began to shake, reacting to the sound. They shook, and shook, and shook some more… but eventually stopped, somehow staying asleep.

The two stood there for some time, their eyes not leaving the Pokémon, making sure it was safe for them before doing anything. They waited, and waited, but nothing happened. Eventually, Marissa finally took her hand away from Simon's mouth and let out the quietest sigh of relief she could muster. She looked at Simon with irritation, but in this lighting, no one could really tell. She was about to whisper something to him when they suddenly heard a sound.

A sound coming from one of the tunnels. It started off light but soon grew louder, signaling it was getting closer to them. Before long the two saw the source of the sound, several Zubat, and Golbat rushing into the room, the sound coming from their wings in motion.

"Drop to the ground now!" Marissa quickly instructed to Simon, dropping herself nearly flat on the ground.

Simon didn't do what Marissa had told him. In fact, he didn't do anything. He was terrified. The Pokémon flew towards their direction in a large number. However, the repel was still lingering on Simon, and this was soon realized as the wild Zubat and Golbat were instinctively making sure to go around him. Some would call this luck, but those would call it this soon learned to take it back.

At that moment, having the Pokémon so close to him, actually feeling the wind from their wings flapping, Simon let out a loud scream. The sound rattled around in echoes, not only giving the Zubat and Golbat flying by a bit of a fright, but also waking up all of the ones that were already in the room sleeping. They all woke up and quickly descended, flying all over the place, startled.

With more of them now flying about, Simon's body acted out. Without thinking, he suddenly started running, going into one of the tunnels.

"Simon!" Marissa shouted, but he didn't hear her. Simon just kept running.